Steinmetz HS

How does Steinmetz HS compare with other K-12 school buildings in Chicago?

The latest disclosures cover 543 K-12 school buildings in Chicago, out of 3,852 buildings citywide. Steinmetz HS's ENERGY STAR score of 83 compares with an average of 45 across the 365 that report a score; it scores higher than 92% of them and lower than 7%. Its site EUI of 51.1 kBtu/ft² is about 30% below the average of 72.7 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 4.1 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 34% below the group average of 6.2 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 398,320 sq ft, it is about 227% above the average floor area of 121,824 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1934, 9 years earlier than the group's average year built (1943). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 6,548 K-12 school buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 64 and a site EUI of 52.7 kBtu/ft².

How has Steinmetz HS's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 10 Chicago disclosures for Steinmetz HS, covering report years 2014–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 66 in 2014 to 83 in 2023 (+17 points); its best year on file was 2016, at 92. Site EUI moved from 85.0 kBtu/ft² (2014) to 51.1 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 40% decrease. Reported emissions went from 2,664 tCO₂e to 1,633 tCO₂e over the same span (down 39%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 83 mean?

ENERGY STAR scores run from 1 to 100 and are computed by the EPA's Portfolio Manager as a percentile against similar buildings nationwide, adjusted for climate, size and use: a score of 83 means the building performs better than about 83% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 83 falls in band B — above median (70–84). Scores of 75 or higher meet the threshold for ENERGY STAR certification; certification itself is a separate, verified application that the disclosure does not record. In Chicago, 35% of scored buildings are at 75 or above.

Site energy-use intensity (EUI) is the energy a building uses on site in a year divided by its floor area, in thousand Btu per square foot — lower is more efficient. Steinmetz HS's 51.1 kBtu/ft² across 398,320 sq ft works out to about 20.4 billion Btu (5,965 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 81.6 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,865,318 kWh of electricity and 139,846 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Steinmetz HS to report its energy use?

Steinmetz HS reports under the Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance, the legal basis of the Chicago Energy Benchmarking program, which publishes each covered building's annual benchmarking results. The record shown here is the report-year 2023 disclosure (source record chicago:250052:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.